Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Gu Shenwei felt that the time to strike had not yet come but he was still ready to unsheathe his sword. “The one who revealed the whereabouts of Han Wuxian was Guan Shang.”
Lotus stared at the Dragon King, measuring the credibility of Gu Shenwei’s words in her heart. Guan Shang used to be a spy planted in Golden Roc Castle by the Waning Moon Hall and was a genuine senior disciple who was more loyal to the original Hall Leader than her. She had tried to assassinate the Master Commander in the An Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake but ended up dying at the hands of the Dragon King in the end.
From beginning to end, Lotus could see no sign that Guan Shang had ever revealed the secret.
“When we were still in Jade City, Guan Shang felt that she could use me against you, so she told me where Han Wuxian was. I refused to help her, but I did send someone to keep looking for Han Wuxian in the desert until I finally found her.”
Lotus stayed silent. No one knew the Dragon King better than she did. At this moment, she could almost feel every tiny thought that ran through the man’s head.
Guan Shang could have taken the chance to sow discord but she hadn’t mentioned it before she died. Thinking of this, Lotus made up her mind.
Han Fen felt a bit regretful because she had a small crush on Chu Nanping, but killing the person that one loved was precisely the standard training method of the Waning Moon Hall. “Little girl, why haven’t you done it yet?”
Chu Nanping did not draw his sword or evade. His eyes had always been locked on Tie Linglong, except for when he had turned to the Dragon King once, hinting to the other side to not interfere.
“You don’t have to be a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall and also don’t have to take orders from anyone.” The boy’s voice was gentle and seemed to have changed into a completely different person who made Gu Shenwei felt somewhat strange.
“You don’t understand.” Tie Linglong appeared quite restless. She hadn’t found Han Xuan. Thus, Tie Linglong thought that Han Wuxian’s daughter must be in Lotus’s hands though she hadn’t shown up yet.
She cared a lot about her promise to Han Wuxian, not just for the training method of the seventh level of the Jueyin Finger Energy, but also to fulfill a seemingly sacred mission.
Although they had only met twice, that tall, beautiful and motherly woman had firmly taken hold of a corner in Tie Linglong’s heart.
She had to help the mother and daughter meet each other. Tie Linglong almost took this matter as if it were her own reunion with her deceased mother.
Chu Nanping didn’t understand her plan but he understood very well that this teenage girl was not fit to be a killer, let alone a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. Her heart hadn’t yet been destroyed, and his job was to extricate her from the shadows.
All of a sudden, what Tie Linglong was proving was not her loyalty but rather how effective the Waning Moon Hall’s training actually was.
Lotus spoke. She had thought it all through and what she said was almost a replica of the Dragon King’s plan. “You put a tail on Tie Linglong and you knew that I would take her in so you deliberately drove her away. You had fooled everyone; I didn’t even think of checking the tail behind her.”
Tie Linglong turned to the Dragon King, her eyes full of surprise and perplexion.
Gu Shenwei nodded and admitted, “Yes, someone followed her and found the headquarters of the Waning Moon Hall in the desert, and then spent another year uncovering Han Wuxian’s whereabouts.”
“So you’ve hidden such an expert all this time.” Lotus knew all the Dragon King’s men and did not remember anyone who had suddenly disappeared for more than a year.
“Not one, but five. They are not kung fu experts but they performed very well under Xu Xiaoyi. They are especially good at long distance tracking and are indeed experts in this area.
Lotus hummed. She had never taken Xu Xiaoyi seriously and never thought that he had people this capable under him.
What had happened next was clear. The five trackers had done their duty. They did not dare to get too close to the Waning Moon Hall’s headquarters, so they had conducted a slow search around it. Thus, it had taken them a year to find Han Wuxian, who had been actually run into Tie Linglong who had been three days into her escapade.
The news was immediately sent back to Xiaoyao Lake.
While Gu Shenwei was on his way to the Norland, another team had set out to rescue the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall.
Lotus smiled and looked very happy as she stated, “You never trusted me.”
“I don’t trust anyone. We are the same.”
When they were at Xiaoyao Lake, Lotus was secretly giving orders to the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall while Gu Shenwei was also quietly working on his own plan. The two of them could entrust their backs to each other but there was not much trust between them and each of them had something of the other side’s.
Becoming the one in ultimate control was something that Gu Shenwei persevered to be in his lifetime and was also the greatest goal of Lotus.
“Look, this is the Dragon King.” Lotus wasn’t annoyed; she was merely pointing out the facts to Tie Linglong. “He will try to take advantage of everything, even your own feelings. Well, I don’t blame you for not knowing it, but you have to make a choice between following the Dragon King and waiting to be used again or becoming a real disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.”
This ultimatum was how she would deal with Chu Nanping.
Tie Linglong’s mind was in chaos. The awe she held towards Lotus, the commitment to Han Wuxian, and her obsession with of the Dragon King were all strung together and fighting each other to the death, each trying to gain absolute superiority.
“You’ve been tricked by the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall,” Gu Shenwei reminded though he didn’t try justifying his ‘using her.’ Tie Linglong had followed him for several years and should understand the truth that he used all means, regardless of right or wrong, to strike the enemy. Tie Linglong could only keep a secret when she was unaware of it which was also a form of protection for her.
Gu Shenwei had confidence in his status in the little girl’s mind and therefore knew that her restlessness must be the product of some secret arts.
Lotus’s eyes twitched a bit and seemed to have realized something.
Instead of reaching out for his sword, Chu Nanping stretched out his hands and kept them far away from the sword hilt. He had never thought that he would say this in public, but the words had suddenly risen in his mind and they were so powerful that they broke through the ‘hard shell’ of the Emotionless Swordsmanship. The boy had no choice but to submit to it. “Come with me. There’ll be no Dragon King and Lotus, just the two of us. I think I’m in love with you.”
Silence fell upon the tent. Gu Shenwei and Lotus didn’t expect the young swordsman who always regarded himself as ’emotionless’ to say such words. Chu Nanping had shown great concern for Tie Linglong, but Gu Shenwei thought that it might take the boy at least ten years to break the barrier in the heart.
Han Fen was so excited that she almost burst into tears as if the person accepting the love confession was herself. “Kill him,” muttered Han Fen. For her, such a beautiful scene was the perfect time to pursue the great Dao of the Waning Moon Hall.
Tie Linglong was caught unprepared. This wasn’t what she had expected and was also quite out of the place given the current situation. During her time at the headquarters of the Waning Moon Hall, she had refused to accept the training of seducing a man with her body and instead developed an instinctive aversion to men.
The Dragon King and Chu Nanping had no gender in her mind, so the confession immediately transformed the teenager into a stranger in her eyes.
“You… Nonsense…” She took a step back, her voice trembling.
“I’m not talking nonsense. You’re not fit to be a killer. Let’s leave this world.”
It was exactly these words that struck the sore spot of Tie Linglong. She had heard something similar from the Dragon King on the first day he had taught her sabersmanship. And this was also not the first time that Chu Nanping had pointed it out, but this time it made her particularly angry.
“I am a killer.”
The dagger thrust into the teenager’s chest. The real killers had retreated to a safe distance but Tie Linglong could not move. Her wrist was grasped tightly by Chu Nanping, who not only didn’t pull out the dagger but helped her add more strength.
And he looked neither angry nor sad, only having a smile of relief as if to say, “I was right, you don’t like killing at all.”
Tie Linglong became angrier. Lotus’s voice suddenly prevailed in her heart and the little girl’s killing intent was aroused. But the reaction of her arm and her body was totally different. She couldn’t exert any strength at all.
The moment Tie Linglong had produced a dagger, Gu Shenwei almost drew his sword but he stopped when Chu Nanping refused to dodge and held onto Tie Linglong’s wrist.
The teenage duo was going through the most important choices in their lives. He didn’t want to interfere, and neither did he want to ruin it. Even if the two really wanted to leave, he would never stop them.
He had used them but he didn’t feel ashamed because he had never forced them to do anything even while practicing martial arts. He had simply passed onto them the skills and left them by themselves to figure it out.
Lotus made her move, as nimble as she always was.
Gu Shenwei drew his Dragon Head Sword at the same time.
After the long wait for this moment, what he struck out with was a simple sword move.
Gu Shenwei drew his sword but didn’t use the Death Sutra sword technique because he felt that Lotus had no killing intent.
Lotus easily avoided the Dragon King’s attack and pushed the two teenagers away, her voice unprecedently harsh. “You’re no longer a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, and I forbid you two from following the Dragon King from now on. Get lost.”
Tie Linglong’s face was almost transparently pale as if she had just woken up from a nightmare. Han Wuxian’s image blurred and even Lotus’s voice turned vague, her anger like rain falling on a land dying of drought, quickly sinking down and disappearing.
“I… I won’t follow anyone anymore,” Tie Linglong said defiantly like a child with tears coursing down her cheeks. And she was a child, a child who thought she could wear a killer’s mask.
Lotus suddenly turned around and left the tent. When she reached the door, she put on her mask in such a hurry that it seemed there was something unbearable here to the point she had to stay as far away as possible.
Chu Nanping covered the wound with one hand and held out the other as he said, “Let’s go.”
Tie Linglong began crying even harder. “Who told you to say such nonsense? And in front of so many people?”
Chu Nanping looked around and thought that there were actually not that many people present, but he didn’t argue because Tie Linglong had come over, covered his wound with a silk handkerchief, and then immediately retreated three steps.
The two looked at the Dragon King.
“Go.” That was the only word Gu Shenwei said to them.
To Tie Linglong, such a farewell was too simple. With tears on her cheeks, she revealed a smile. “No one can force me to do anything. I’ll go but I may come back in the future.”
She also had her own secret. She had only reached the second level of the Jueyin Finger Energy so far but sooner or later, she would surprise everyone.
As the two started walking outside, Tie Linglong suddenly turned around and said, “Han Xuan is Han Wuxian’s daughter. The Hall Leader really misses her.”
The Dragon King nodded to show that he understood.
Disappointed and confused, Han Fen didn’t understand why the little girl had missed such a good opportunity and also didn’t understand the Master Commander’s abnormal behavior. Frowning, she thought for a long while before she could understand the reason a little.
Han Fen came over and grabbed the Dragon King’s arm, her face full of excitement as if they were still ‘friends’ instead of rivals. Then she lowered her voice with great difficulty and said, “The Master Commander is waiting for you to marry her. You become her man and she your woman, and then all problems will be solved.
Gu Shenwei froze. So this was what Han Fen had been trying to say to him.
